The Sconi

On May 22, 2024, a coalition of three organizations filed an amicus brief in the Wisconsin Supreme Court case, Wisconsin Voters Alliance v. Secord. The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty are represented by the Wisconsin Transparency Project.

WILL Deputy Counsel Luke Berg stated, “No citizen should be denied tools to hold their government accountable, yet barriers to transparent government have become commonplace — affecting organizations of all political stripes, including the press. The Wisconsin Supreme Court should rectify that. WILL is grateful for this coalition coming together to support true open and honest government in Wisconsin.”

Bill Lueders, President of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, remarked, “This is an opportunity for the state Supreme Court to clarify that the open records law puts the burden of proof on the records custodian, not the requester. We hope that the court will rule in a way that affirms the law’s presumption that citizens are entitled to the greatest possible access to public information.”

Tom Kamenick, President and Founder of Wisconsin Transparency Project added, “Consistency is important. When courts take different approaches to resolving a question, litigants and courts alike face confusion and uncertainty.”

The case involves access to "notices of voting eligibility," which are court records used to indicate that a person has been adjudicated incompetent to cast a vote and should be removed from voting rolls. The amicus organizations do not take a position on whether those records should be released but request clarification from the Supreme Court on whether a record requester must prove they are entitled to access or if it is required for custodians to prove an exception exists.

Most cases have consistently stated that custodians must prove an exception permits withholding a record. However, some cases have contradicted this approach by stating that requesters must prove they have a "clear legal right" to a record. The amicus organizations ask the court to rule that requesters only need to prove they made a written request for a record that was denied; at which point they are entitled to it unless custodians meet their burden of proving an exception applies.

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Amicus Brief filed 5.22.24